Kerala was officially renamed Keralam through The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Act, 2026, which altered the State’s entry in the First Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The change followed the constitutional procedure under Article 3, which governs the formation of new States and the alteration of names and areas of existing States.
India plans to add 100 new vessels to its merchant fleet over the next five years to reduce dependence on foreign shipping lines for carrying critical cargo such as crude oil, gas, coal and urea. The announcement was made on 25 August 2026 at the inaugural Sagar Samvad conference in New Delhi, which was organised by the National Shipping Board to discuss policy directions for Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
Researchers from the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), based in Himachal Pradesh, identified a new plant species of the sunflower family in Arunachal Pradesh. The species was named Doronicum sanctum and was formally described in a study published on 11 August 2026 in a Springer Nature journal.
A sudden flash flood swept through Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems on 26 August 2026. The flood affected the Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, and it caused deaths, missing-person cases, damage to roads and bridges, and disruption to cross-border movement.
The Kerala High Court ruled that traditional cowledars holding pandaram land before the 1965 Regulation are lawful landowners, quashing arbitrary resumption orders.
The Hawk Fire, a fast-spreading, human-caused wildfire burning across Peavine Peak northwest of Reno, prompted Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo to declare a State of Emergency in Washoe County.
The Union Health Ministry has tightened rules for FDCs containing chlorpheniramine maleate and phenylephrine, requiring labels to warn against their use in children below four years.
The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, has launched the “Garbhini Mitra” course for the 2026–2027 academic session.
India has strongly condemned a deadly ambush on peacekeepers deployed with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) near Pajut in Jonglei State, which resulted in the death of an Ethiopian Blue Helmet and injuries to several personnel.
The ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) officially registered the Periyar cow (popularly known as Periyar Kullan) as an indigenous cattle breed.
Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan launched India’s first non-GMO, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed at Musunuru in Eluru district, Andhra Pradesh.
Economist analysis of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2025) reveals that youth joblessness creates a measurable economic burden on Indian households, challenging the traditional view of unemployment as merely an individual career struggle.
